Germany and the World: Cultural Exchanges and Mutual Perceptions

A DAAD conference and research exchange programme organized by the University of Cambridge and Birkbeck, University of London, the Pears Institute for the Study of Antisemitism, and the Wiener Library; in conjunction with the University of Freiburg, the University of Konstanz, the Free University of Berlin and the Zentrum für Antisemitismusforschung at the Technical University of Berlin

First Conference, Cambridge 20-22 March 2013:

Anglo-German Perceptions and Prejudices since 1800

Since the early 19th century, Anglo-German relations have been rife with misunderstandings and mutual suspicion, but also laced with envy and half-acknowledged admiration. From the stamp ‘made in Germany’ to the rhetoric of ‘a place in the sun’, from ‘perfidious Albion’ to the present-day British stereotypes of German holidaymakers, Germans and Britons have been drawn to one another’s contemplation in a curious mixture of fascination and revulsion. More perhaps than relations between any other pair of major European powers, perceptions of the other have impacted the reality and practice of Anglo-German relations.

Our workshop asks how, over the last two centuries, this rhetorical arsenal of tropes and stereotypes, negative and positive, has been stocked, and in what ways it has impacted industrial, social and political relations. We welcome submissions from historians and scholars from neighbouring disciplines and encourage a variety of methodological approaches. While it is our intention to cover the chosen timeframe in its entirety, papers probing less well-trodden paths of inquiry are particularly welcome.

Papers will be pre-circulated. The conference languages are German and English. Proposals of 500 words, accompanied by a short CV, should be sent by 11 January 2013 to: Henning Grunwald (PromotingGermanStudies@gmail.com)

The workshop is open to academic staff and postgraduate students from any British or German university. Finished papers of no more than 4,000 words should be submitted online by 1 March 2013.

Travel expenses, accommodation and meals will be funded, subject to a cap on the maximum amount.

This is the first of four planned conferences under the general programme Germany and the World: Cultural Exchanges and Mutual Perceptions; further conferences will be held in Konstanz (September 2013), London (March 2014), and Berlin (September 2014). Any enquiries should be directed to Dr Henning Grunwald, DAAD Fachlektor in German History at Cambridge University.

Professor Sir Richard Evans
Dr Bianca Gaudenzi
Dr Henning Grunwald
Dr David Motadel